Blog Archive

Pages

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Sal con Flor de Jamaica (Sea Salt with Hibiscus Flowers)

Sea Salt with Dried Hibiscus Flowers

Sal con Flor de Jamaica

by Victoria Challancin

As soon as I saw it on the internet, I was intrigued. I knew I had to have it. Well, with a price tag of over twenty dollars for 150g, at least I knew I had to make it, and make it I did: Sea Salt with Dried Hibiscus Flowers. So pretty, so beguiling, so...interesting. I could later figure out what to actually do with it.

How pretty would this red hibiscus salt look rimming a glass filled with a mango margarita????

As I was creating the recipe in my mind, I immediately thought of my beloved Sumac, a favorite, favorite, favorite ingredient that I lug back from the Middle East on every trip. I wrote about it on a post called Sumac: A Culinary Treat, complete with history, medicinal uses, and three recipes for using it. Sumac is tangy, tart, and so pretty. It can be used dried as a garnish, adding a beautiful red hue as well as a lemony tang to a dish or even soaked and used in a similar way. So can Hibiscus flowers.

Do you see the similarities between the Hibiscus Salt and Sumac? Even the taste is somewhat similar.

And of course the color of the salt was so pretty that I just had to try it out against different backgrounds.

In Mexico, my adapted home for almost 24 years, hibiscus flowers (flor de jamaica) are much used. This common ingredient is used in aguas frescas, as a taco filling, crumbled dried into salads, soaked and reduced to act as an acid in vinaigrettes, and more. But this is the stuff of another post I can feel brewing...

For me, the possibility of using dried hibiscus flowers in my cooking classes is a boon. I try not to use ingredients that aren't readily available here in San Miguel de Allende--it just would be fair to my students if they don't have access to them. I often do use sumac as a simple garnish, however, but say that it is "optional." Now I am thinking that pure dried ground hibiscus flowers could really work as a substitute--with or without the salt.

The Recipe: Sea Salt with Dried Hibiscus Flowers

by Victoria Challancin

Cook's Notes: Because the hibiscus flowers (flor de jamaica) from the market were so lovely and fresh, they were just too moist and pliable to grind. I ground them once, passed them through a colander, and found I had to further dry them at a low temperature for about 10 minutes. After regrinding them, I repeated the process. The ratio I chose was 2/1, flowers to sea salt and the sea salt I used was from Mexico, a gift from a friend. If you want to use the ground flowers like sumac, simply omit the salt.

2 parts dried hibiscus flowers

1 part sea salt or kosher salt

Grind the dried flowers in a clean spice grinder or blender. Strain through a mesh colander into a bowl. Add the sea salt and mix thoroughly. Store in a sterilized glass jar in a dark place, such as a cupboard or pantry shelf out of the light. Use as a colorful and tangy finish for salads, bread, fish, shrimp, meat, or poultry. Use your imagination and enjoy!

2 comments:

I recently came across Sal con Flor de Jamaica on Amazon and I wanted it so bad but with shipping it was too expensive. I was searching for a better price and found your blogpost. I grow lots of roselle hibiscus and I can't wait to try your recipe! Your blog is awesome!!

Flavors of the Sun

Food for Thought:Musings from a cooking teacher living in Mexico on her lifetime affair with history, culture, travel, and food.

Subscribe via email

Sign up to receive new blog posts delivered fresh to your inbox

About Me

San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato, Mexico

Welcome to my site:
I am an American who has lived abroad for the last 37 years. For the last twenty five years, I have lived in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, where I own Flavors of the Sun International Cooking School. The other twelve years were spent living in the Middle East and Europe or simply on the road traveling internationally.
I also lead small groups each year to Morocco, Paris, and Istanbul, with new destinations planned. While food is never far from my heart, these are not culinary trips. Rather, they are specialized and customized journeys designed to help the traveler extract as much as possible from the cultures, countries, and cities we visit.
This blog has basically grown out of my love for food, travel, and requests from clients and friends to share information, tips, and recipes.
Contact me at flavorsofthesun@gmail.com for more information regarding cooking classes or trips.